Enterococcal bacteremia is associated with prolonged stay in the medical intensive care unit

Autor: Viju Moses, Jayakumar Jerobin, Anupama Nair, Sowmya Sathyendara, Veeraraghavan Balaji, Ige Abraham George, John Victor Peter
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Global Infectious Diseases, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 26-30 (2012)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0974-777X
DOI: 10.4103/0974-777X.93758
Popis: Background: Although enterococci are relatively common nosocomial pathogens in surgical intensive care units (ICUs), their significance in blood cultures from patients in the medical ICU is unclear. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study spanning 2 years, the clinical and microbiological characteristics of enterococcal bacteremia among medical ICU patients were evaluated. Results: Of 1325 admissions, 35 with enterococcal bacteremia accounted for 14.8% of positive blood cultures. They were significantly older (P=0.03) and had various co-morbidities. Most had vascular (96.9%) and urinary (85.3%) catheters, and 67.7% were mechanically ventilated. In addition to blood, enterococci were isolated from vascular catheters (8.6%) and other sites (20%), while no focus was identified in 77% of patients. Prior use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials was nearly universal. All isolates tested were sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid. Resistance to ampicillin and gentamicin were 44.7% and 52.6%, respectively. Compared with other medical ICU patients, patients with enterococcal bacteremia had a longer ICU stay (P
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